YO-HANCHA
In the flesh
A contemplative Yo-Han Cha looks back over two years of virtual club life , and offers a glimpse of club life in a post-Covid age
It finally looks like we ’ ve gotten [ Are we living in America ? Outraged Editor ] through this pandemic . Lockdown rules have lifted and the Covid-19 numbers are dropping ( at the time of writing , fingers crossed ). We ’ ve been trying to meet up in person where the rules allowed us , outside , rule of six , two metres apart . When we haven ’ t been able to physically meet in person , Zoom or other video conferencing software have at least provided us with the ability to see each other virtually . Zoom does have some benefits . I could meet up with my old dive clubs in Manchester despite no longer living there . Speakers from further afield could be arranged to speak at club events . I could drink freely as I didn ’ t have to drive home . But despite all that and despite the possibility of infection , whenever I was able to make it to an in-person club meeting , I tried to be there . The virtual world could never quite replace the real one .
I ’ ve had two birthdays during this pandemic . One ( like many others ) was spent in my room on a Zoom meeting with lots of my friends , the other was spent with a few friends , geeking out on board games and beer . I infinitely preferred the second birthday . Being able to meet up in person felt more meaningful and the connections made more long term than on a virtual meeting . It was the same for when I was finally able to meet my new dive club in person . We had met on virtual meetings online , but it was so much better to see people face-to-face .
Although , there was one issue that I ’ d forgotten about . I ’ m really bad at remembering people ’ s names ; when I meet them in-person , their name isn ’ t conveniently placed to the bottom righthand side of their face . So , if I ’ ve met you online and I can ’ t remember your name , I ’ m sorry , it ’ s not personal . In fact , that apology extends out to anyone I ’ ve met in real life as well . I ’ m really sorry !
I don ’ t mean to keep going on about my holiday to the Maldives , but aside from the sun , warm seas and mantas , one of the best things about the trip was that everyone on the liveaboard was essentially in the same bubble . This meant that while we were on the boat , there were no masks , no twometre rule and everyone could relax and spend time with each other as we used to do . For a week , until some of us needed to get some PCR tests , we could forget about the pandemic and just hang out with each other as we would have done in the good old days .
As a society , we are building confidence and starting to meet up in increasingly large numbers . The number of people coming to my dive club meetings is slowly growing . Past dive trips are talked about , and embarrassing stories relived . Future dive trips are planned . It ’ s warm , inviting and friendly .
So , one of my favourite routines has reasserted itself into my life . On Wednesdays , I find myself on autopilot , heading to the dive club , looking forward to a brave new world of possibilities . See you there ! �
Members of one of Yo-Han ’ s clubs meet at a Bristol pub
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